Transcript The 12 Great Olympians

The 12 Great Olympians
Cronus and Rhea
Cronus was the youngest of the Titans,
and was pictured as the ruler of the Titan
dynasty.
 After castrating his father at the
instigation of his mother, he became the
supreme ruler of the world.
 He and his sister wife, Rhea, were the
parents of the Olympians.
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Why are they called Olympians?
They were the 3rd dynasty of gods
 They succeeded The Titans
 Inhabited the mountain called Olympus
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Olympus
Believed to be a mountain because
referred to as such in many places.
 the entrance to it was a great gate of
clouds kept by the seasons.
 Within were the Gods' dwellings, where
they lived and slept and feasted on
ambrosia and nectar and listened to the
lyre of Apollo.
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“No wind ever shakes the untroubled
peace of Olympus; no rain ever falls there,
or snow; but the cloudless firmament
stretches around it on all sides and the
white glory of sunshine is diffused upon its
walls" - Homer
Zeus
Supreme ruler of
Olympian Dynasty
 Mightier than all
others put together
 Ruler of the sky, rain
god and clouds
 “bright shining light of
heaven”
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Hera
Sister and wife of Zeus
Often referred to as his inferior
She was the protector of marriage, and married
women were her peculiar care.
 Had 4 Children with Zeus
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Hephaestus : God of fire and the chief workman of
the gods
Ares : God of war
Hebe : Goddess of youth and wife of Heracles in
heaven
Eileithyia : Goddess of childbirth
Poseidon
Ruler of the sea
 He gained the rank or rating as ruler of
the waves, by drawing lots at a Council
Meeting of the Gods
 Zeus took the upper world for himself, and
gave the under world to his other brother,
Hades.
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Demeter
Demeter was the goddess of corn, fruit
and agriculture in general and a goddess
of fertility.
 As such she was, in many regions,
associated with Poseidon as the god of
fertilizing water.
 Had daughter with Zeus named
Persephone
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Apollo
Son of Zeus and Leto
 Twin brother to Artemis
 Apollo's birthplace was the island of Delos
(originally an island that floated, until Zeus
chained it to the bottom of the sea so that
Leto may be comfortable while giving birth
to Apollo and Artemis.
 Depicted with bow and arrow because he
was seen as a very unforgiving god.
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Artemis
Goddess of the moon, hunting and
chastity
 She also carried bow and arrows
 Artemis was the goddess of life, childbirth
and of children after they were born, and
of animals.
 She was a great huntress
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Athene
Also called Pallas Athene.
 She was the Goddess of wisdom
 Like Zeus, Athene could send storms and
rough weather
 She was the mistress and Zeus was the
master of thunder and lightning and she
too would hurl thunderbolts to enforce her
will and frighten her foes.
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Athene continued
Athene invented the plow and the rake,
and created the olive tree, services that
made her the protector of agriculture
 She was also a teacher.
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Aphrodite
goddess of love and beauty
 Two different versions of birth
 Daughter of Zeus and Dione
 Sprang forth from foam that formed
around the limbs of the castrated Uranus
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Hermes
Messenger and herald of the gods
 Hermes was frequently requested to speak
in public, and to do a great deal of
traveling; he therefore became the god of
eloquence and speech, and the god of
roads who would protect travelers like
himself.
 Son of Zeus and Maia (daughter of Atlas)
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Ares
god of War
 Son of Zeus and Hera
 Very violent and had a horrible temper
 Other gods and goddesses couldn’t stand
him
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Hephaestus
Son of Zeus and Hera
 god of fire and the chief workman of the
gods.
 He was lame and deformed so his parents
were ashamed of him
 Made his mother a golden throne that
chained her in it and he had to be called
again.
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Dionysus
born in Thebes, the son of Zeus and
Semele
 god of wine and merry making
 Dionysus was the only god whose parents
were not both gods
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There were two other Olympian gods,
though they are not usually included as
part of the twelve
Hades
God of the underworld
 Persephone was his queen
 Hades was also known as the god of
wealth and precious metal that lay hidden
deep within the earth
 Son of Cronus and Rhea
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Hebe
The wife of Heracles in heaven
 The goddess of youth
 Daughter of Zeus and Hera
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Sources
Bierlein, J.F. Parallel Myths. New
York:Ballantine Wellspring, 1994.
 Evslin, Evslin and Hoopes. The Greek
Gods. New York: Scholastic Inc, 1966.
 Hamilton, Edith. Mythology. New York:
Warner Books, 1969
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